CAIN PLEDGES TO FIGHT ON – MANAGER SAYS “NO WAYS HE’S DROPPING OUT”: “Although Herman Cain told his senior staff [yesterday] morning that he was ‘reassessing’ his campaign’s livelihood in light of an accusation by an Atlanta woman of a 13-year extra-marital affair, Cain’s campaign manager, Mark Block, said in an interview [last night] that there is ‘no way he’s dropping out,’” ABC News reports. “Block said the term ‘reassessment’ was meant to imply a ‘strategic reassessment’ and ‘not a reassessment of withdrawing” from the race.’” http://abcn.ws/uCuSP2

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DOESN’T ADDRESS ALLEGED AFFAIR IN MICHIGAN SPEECH: “Just before unveiling his foreign policy plan to a crowd of about 500 at Hillsdale College in Michigan, Cain's Twitter account read: ‘The definition of reassess is: To consider again, esp. while paying attention to new factors. Doesn't sound like dropping out,’” according to CBS. “Cain in his speech made no direct reference to the allegations or his campaign's status…He did, though, begin his speech: ‘Life can be a challenge.’” http://bit.ly/vI0fY9

HUNTSMAN SUGGESTS CAIN SHOULD DROP OUT: “We’ve got real issues to talk about not the latest bimbo eruption,” Huntsman told the Boston Herald editorial board yesterday. NBC’s Jo Ling Kent: “He went on to imply that the recent allegation of a 13-year extra-marital affair created ‘too much of a cloud, in some people’s minds, as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forth.’” http://on.msnbc.com/ucrG7s

BACHMANN CAMP APOLOGIZES FOR TWEET: “Michele Bachmann's Iowa campaign manager is ‘really sorry’ for a tweet sent out Tuesday evening by a Bachmann aide claiming there were moving trucks outside Herman Cain's Iowa headquarters. Bachmann Iowa campaign chairman and state Sen. Kent Sorenson tweeted that info on Twitter, and included a picture. Turns out, the Cain presidential campaign staff was receiving a shipment of boxes that included about 3,000 yard signs…The tweeted photo has since been taken down.” http://bit.ly/tC82tH

THE KEYSTONE KOPS – CAIN TEAM BUMBLES TO DEFEAT: “His campaign will go down as one of the most hapless and bumbling operations in modern presidential politics, setting a new standard for how to turn damaging press coverage into something far worse,” Jonathan Martin writes in a buzzy story this morning. “The combination of a supremely self-assured candidate — speaking in the third-person and convinced of his own ability to talk himself out of any jam — surrounded by a group of not-ready-for-prime-time aides making it up as they go along has resulted in a campaign meltdown for the ages.” http://bit.ly/rXtwnM

ROMNEY ON FOX – ATTACKS GINGRICH AS A “LIFELONG POLITICIAN”: Noting that Gingrich has spent “30 or 40 years in Washington,” Mitt Romney told Bret Baier on Fox News last night: “He's a lifelong politician. I think you have to have the credibility of understanding how the economy works. And I do.” He took a not-so-subtle dig at Gingrich for his partnership with Nancy Pelosi on climate change: “…if I were willing to say anything to get elected, wouldn't I just say, 'Oh, it was a mistake.' Because I've watched other people on the stage when they talk about their cap and trade policies, they say, 'Oh, that was a mistake,'” he said. “I'll defend that…And if it keeps me from winning a primary, so be it.” Story: http://lat.ms/u2xmRn. The full 17-minute video is on Fox’s site: http://bit.ly/ug6U39.

OBAMA TO SCRANTON – “FACING A REPLAY OF ’08 HURDLES IN ‘HILLARY COUNTRY,’ PA”: That’s the headline of a curtain-raiser on A16 of today’s New York Times. “In a speech Wednesday at the high school — WHERE MRS. CLINTON OPENED HER PRIMARY CAMPAIGN — Mr. Obama intends to exhort Congress to extend and expand his cut in the payroll tax, a move he says would save middle-class families an additional $1,000 next year,” Katharine Seelye writes. “The northeast is a swing, bellwether region in a state that suddenly seems in play. White, working-class voters, here and elsewhere, have been especially hard hit by the economic downturn. They have little loyalty to Mr. Obama and feel he has not lived up to his promise.” http://nyti.ms/u6ZBeY

THE SCHEDULE: Obama is set to be on the ground in Pennsylvania for two hours and 25 minutes. He meets with a Scranton family at 2:05 p.m., gives a high school speech at 2:45 p.m. and then flies to New York to raise money. He’s set to be in NYC for five hours and 15 minutes.

REPUBLICAN BRACKETING PLANS –

FIRST IN SCORE – ROMNEY CAMPAIGN WILL PLAY BIDEN CARD: Boston will bracket Obama’s Scranton trip with a forthcoming press release headlined “Scranton’s Joe Biden was right…Obama isn’t ready.” It notes that back in 2007 then-candidate Biden attacked then-candidate Obama for his limited experience. “I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is,” Biden said. “The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.” This is the FIRST TIME that the Romney campaign has explicitly targeted the Vice President. The release also cites Ed Rendell attacking Obama for “gutter politics” in the weeks before the Pennsylvania Democratic primary in 2008, which Hillary Clinton won handily.

SNEAK PEEK – RNC LAUNCHES “FAILED PROMISE” VIDEO: To celebrate the president’s record 56th swing state visit, the Republican National Committee is launching a new web ad highlighting the promises the president made to voters in Scranton in 2008. It notes that unemployment is up 19 percent in the state, where 37,900 manufacturing jobs have been lost and 189,000 more Pennsylvanians are living in poverty than when Obama took office. http://bit.ly/sqzADG

NRSC PILES ON: The National Republican Senatorial Committee is putting out a 77-second web video linking Obama’s “lazy” line to President Carter’s “malaise.” [Democrats say the Obama quote is being misrepresented, but that’s not stopping it from becoming a meme on the right.] The tagline: “American presidents don’t blame Americans. They believe in them.” http://bit.ly/s0l5sg

NH DEMS ATTACK – “I AGREE WITH JOE MCQUAID”: New Hampshire Democratic Party state chair Ray Buckley will send a fundraising email to his list at 10:30 a.m. today to tell supporters that Union Leader Publisher Joe McQuaid, during an interview with Fox News, said because he “represents the 1%” Americans will not support Romney for president. “I almost fell out of my chair when I heard those words, because they are the absolute truth,” Ray writes. The email: http://bit.ly/tca81H. Video of McQuaid’s appearance on Fox News: http://bit.ly/rGnW8p.

ROMNEY’S APPROACH – 2012 CAMPAIGN EMPHASIZES THE LONG GAME: Dan Balz has a smart piece in the Post on everything that undid Romney in 2008 and how his team took a longer view than four years ago now that their candidate is no longer a fresh face. “Romney’s campaign advisers say their strategy is based on two major assumptions: No state will determine Romney’s fate, and delegates matter,” Dan writes. “The most common mistake in politics is to wage the last campaign. Romney certainly hasn’t done that so far this year. From top to bottom, his campaign is built on different assumptions and a different approach.” http://wapo.st/vd0KD2

NOT A LOBBYIST – NEW YORK TIMES ON HOW GINGRICH PEDDLED INFLUENCE: An A1 story looks at his influence peddling since leaving the Speakership. “In a variety of instances, documents and interviews show, Mr. Gingrich arranged meetings between executives and officials, and salted his presentations to lawmakers with pitches for his clients, who pay as much as $200,000 a year to belong to his Center for Health Transformation,” the paper reports. “Even if he does not appear to have been negotiating legislative language, he and his staff did many of the same things that registered lobbyists do.” http://nyti.ms/sdaZ6v

PERRY SHAKEUP – ALLBAUGH IS NOW CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Joe Allbaugh is now campaign manager, Tony Fabrizio is the main strategist and Dave Carney is focusing on New Hampshire, according to Maggie Haberman’s sources. In New Hampshire, Perry denied the report. “News to me,” he said. Maggie’s item: http://politi.co/v8TuHz. The denial: http://apne.ws/tjf3m8.

UNION LEADER ATTACKS – PERRY “WOEFULLY UNPREPARED”: Editorial page editor Drew Cline has a column explaining why his paper did not endorse Perry. It’s blistering: “He did more than misspeak. He did more than recklessly attack his own base and generally act like the class bully assigned to spend study hall with the chess club. He did more than forget his talking points and display an uncomfortable lack of knowledge of important topics. He simply suffocated. With one disastrous performance after another, he proved that he did not belong on the stage…he has shown in the last five months that he is woefully unprepared to run for president.” http://bit.ly/tAeyls

OFF MESSAGE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: Perry’s big event of the day was an endorsement from Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who flew in from Arizona to stump with Perry. Pressed on their differences on immigration, the sheriff told reporters in Amherst: “I don’t know the governor that much. I’ve talked to him a few times, but to me, he’s an honorable and ethical person.” Real Clear Politics Scott Conroy looks at the day as a window into Perry’s larger troubles in New Hampshire: http://bit.ly/sylBAE.

MY NEW HAMPSHIRE STORY – HUNTSMAN BETS RETAIL STILL MATTERS: We spent two days following Huntsman to five town halls. He’s spending more time in New Hampshire than anyone, but he’s stalled at fourth. Why? “He can be inconsistent on the stump...explaining in West Lebanon why no banks should be too big to fail, he fell back on this characteristically awkward line: ‘Go read what Joe Klein said about my plan in a recent issue of Time Magazine, but this is a real issue.’…Huntsman also isn’t a great fit for the current Republican moment. Recognizing the need to defend his service as President Obama’s ambassador to China, he preemptively addresses the issue before anyone can ask about it. When asked what he will look for in a Supreme Court appointee, he pledged to look for ‘a sense of equanimity’ — not the answer that comes to mind for most primary voters.” More: http://politi.co/vkBj6l. SPOILER ALERT – HUNTSMAN WON’T RULE OUT INDEPENDENT RUN: “Asked, ‘Is there any situation in which you would run for president as an independent?’ Huntsman told The Boston Globe, ‘I don’t think so.’ Told that anything but a flat denial could perpetuate speculation about the possibility, Huntsman replied: ‘I’m a lifelong Republican. I’m running as a Republican, and I fully anticipate that that’s where we’re going to be.’” Glen Johnson’s account: http://bo.st/vv0yFF.

CUT OUT – HUNTSMAN WON’T BE ON STAGE FOR TWO KEY DEBATES: The Des Moines Register reports that Huntsman won’t be allowed on stage at the debates on Dec. 10 and 15 because he declined to campaign in the state, a requirement the state GOP put in place. http://dmreg.co/u6s5jR

IOWA TALKER – KEY SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE GROUP OPTS NOT TO ENDORSE: “The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition — a group that started out a couple of decades ago as the Iowa Christian Coalition — will not single out one of 2012 GOP presidential candidates for a public endorsement. Steve Scheffler, the group’s leader, does not plan to issue a public endorsement of his own either,” Radio Iowa’s Kay Henderson reports. “There has been speculation that a coalition of Iowa conservative groups might endorse a candidate, to try to rally support around a single, alternative candidate to Mitt Romney. Scheffler says endorsing a candidate would have caused ‘friction’ among Christian conservatives.” This is a win for Romney because it means it will be harder for social conservatives to unite behind one alternative. http://bit.ly/rGo5Uw

NOT ENDORSING – MITCH DANIELS WILL STAY ON SIDELINES: The Indiana governor says endorsements are overrated and doesn’t see a point in picking a horse. “An incredibly well-respected person, Governor Christie, made an endorsement a couple weeks ago, and it sort of sank without a trace, so I don’t know why anybody would be excited about what I thought,” he said, according to Indiana Public Media. http://bit.ly/viRM8u

GARY JOHNSON SCALES BACK – EXPLORES THIRD-PARTY RUN: “Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson told ABC News that he has given up on his one-by-one vote-winning strategy in New Hampshire, essentially restructuring his entire run for the Republican presidential nomination. Calling from New Mexico, Johnson said he would focus on national strategies like television and satellite radio appearances going forward…“When you get outfundraised by 140 to one, that’s a tough one,” Johnson said. “And that’s where we’re at. Trying to make the most out of that.’ … Johnson said that instead of pursuing the Republican primary, he would consider running as a Libertarian candidate. He first spoke of this possibility to the Santa Fe New Mexican last week. Few in the media actually picked up on this big moment in the Johnson campaign. In their defense, it was on Thanksgiving day.” http://abcn.ws/vFhVXg

OUT THIS MORNING – POLITICO’S FIRST EBOOK NOW ON SALE: The eBook 'The Right Fights Back,' was written by Mike Allen and Evan Thomas. The first in a Playbook 2012 eBook series, it’s only $2.99 and available for iPad, Kindle, Nook and other mobile devices. Mike has a story yhis morning with early excerpts, including Gingrich on his comeback and Tim Pawlenty on why he botched the chance to hit Romney on Obamneycare in that CNN debate that became fatal: http://politi.co/vMWKYH. Buy it now on the POLITICO Bookshelf: http://politi.co/sbnwmA.

WHAT THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES ARE UP TO: Gingrich hosts a town hall in Greenville, South Carolina. Cain has three events in Ohio. Huntsman and Perry address the New Hampshire state house in Concord. Bachmann has town halls in Cedar Falls, Waverly and Charles City, Iowa, today.

LAUNCHING TODAY – DCCC CAMPAIGN BLAMES HOUSE GOP FOR SUPERCOMMITTEE FAILURE: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will roll out a new campaign today to blame 30 Republicans for the supercommittee’s failure by accusing them of wanting tax breaks for billionaires at the expense of Medicare guarantees for seniors. The campaign includes robo calls, live phone calls, online advertising and an “action center” where voters can write letters to the editor criticizing House Republicans. The DCCC is eager to get the drum beat going on Medicare again. It worked so well for Kathy Hochul in New York 26 this spring, and the party thinks they can plausibly tell seniors that the GOP has “re-upped” on Paul Ryan’s budget plan during the debt debate.

ROBO CALL SCRIPT: Here’s an example of the DCCC’s automated phone call script running in Daniel Webster’s (FL-08) district: “Hi, this is Rick calling on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee calling about Congressman Dan Webster’s and Republicans forcing the Super Committee to fail. Americans demanded a bipartisan, big, bold, and balanced plan to reduce the deficit and grow our economy – but that’s not what we got. The Super Committee failed because Republicans insisted on extending the Bush tax breaks for millionaires and refusing to include a jobs proposal – while ending the Medicare guarantee! That's something that Democrats stand strongly against. By rejecting a balanced approach, Republicans chose to protect the wealthiest one percent at the expense of seniors and the middle class. Now they’re even talking about raising the payroll tax. Please call Congressman Webster at (407) 654-5705 and tell him it’s time to focus on us.”

PAYROLL TAX CUT – DEMOCRATS PLAN ATTACKS AS GOP PREPARES TO BACK EXTENTION: “Republican leaders said Tuesday they would join Democrats in supporting an extension of the 2011 payroll-tax cut despite some reluctance within the GOP, virtually assuring that American wage-earners will continue to receive the benefit next year,” per the Wall Street Journal. “Republicans still oppose Democrats' plan to pay for the tax break with a tax on people earning more than $1 million a year. GOP leaders said they would find another way to pay for the tax break and predicted it would pass.” Jake Sherman and Manu Raju reports that some Republicans are getting nervous that they’re losing the messaging war on jobs: http://bit.ly/uUyqSg. The Journal: http://on.wsj.com/uqgo6U.

Democrats are seizing on the issue to paint Republican senators as unconcerned with tax relief for the middle class. Three state Democratic parties gave Score a preview of their Wednesday messaging on this issue:

MASSACHUSETTS hits Brown: The state Democratic Party says Scott Brown’s trying to give “some mealy-mouthed prebuttal” to his vote against extending the payroll tax cuts. “He'll say and do anything to protect the 1%,” a state party official tells Score, previewing an attack that fits into the larger Bay State strategy of trying to define the freshmen as “just another Washington politician.” From the forthcoming release: “If Scott Brown gets his way and the middle class payroll tax cut ends, 3.4 million Massachusetts households earning $50,000 a year will face a $1,000 tax increase.”

INDIANA hits Lugar: Democrats are excited that Dick Lugar went on record in a Bloomberg story supporting the extension of the cut. Their press release: “With Republican Leadership whipping against the payroll tax cut, will Senator Richard Lugar stand by his earlier support for it, or put as many as 750,000 jobs at risk by falling in line with his party?”

OHIO hits Mandel: Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel is not in the Senate, but Democrats are confident they can bloody him a little and get some earned media by pushing him to take a position on the payroll tax cut. Party strategists think they can make it a data point in the narrative as they define the relatively unknown candidate as anti-middle class, especially vis-à-vis Sherrod Brown. The thrust: he was on the wrong side of the voters on senate bill 5 and the China currency manipulation bill. Plus, his wife is rich. The state Democratic Party will send out this press release at 9 a.m. “While Fundraising In D.C., Will Josh Mandel Support Effort To Cut Taxes For Ohio’s Middle Class And Help Small Businesses Create Jobs?” From the release: “If you have the money to attend one of two fundraisers that [he’s] having with DC lobbyists tonight, you might find out.”

MICHIGAN SENATE – HOEKSTRA SETS Q4 EXPECTATIONS: Pete Hoekstra's Senate campaign will release a strategy memo later today where they will set the goal in the fourth quarter of surpassing $500K with 7,500 total donors. Remember that Hoekstra adjusted his public fundraising goal last quarter when he was trying to impress Washington Republicans. The bar was around $500K; he raised a million. With this public release, expect the former congressman to easily top the half a million dollar mark. After all, campaigns only go public with expectations if they expect to shatter them. Dave Catanese: http://politi.co/uaMltM,

NEBRASKA SENATE – REPUBLICANS SAY NELSON MORE VULNERABLE THAN POLL REFLECTS: A GOP strategist pushes back on the Ben Nelson internal poll that we shared with you here yesterday. “The Nelson campaign's claim that his poll came after 'months of negative ads' by Republicans is flat-out misleading,” the strategist tells Score. “The most recent ad buys by Crossroads & AFP came AFTER their internal poll was conducted. And the only ads before that were a small buy in early July. In the interim three months, however, Nelson and the DSCC spent $1.25 million in unopposed statewide radio and TV ads, and even then they could only produce a poll showing him up just two points. That speaks volumes about the deep hole Senator Nelson has dug for himself among Nebraska voters.” They cite this competing poll by the Republican firm Magellan Strategies: http://bit.ly/vFleYK.

ILLINOIS TALKER – SCHOCK FLOATED FOR 2014 GOV RACE: “Does U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock have his eye on the Illinois governor's mansion? A report Tuesday on the Crain's Chicago Business website references several sources within the GOP - all unnamed - who have said the Peoria Republican may be interested in the post and has been considering it as an option for the 2014 election,” the Peoria Journal Star reports. “While granting that ‘Congressman Schock hears news about himself having plans to run for U.S. Senate or governor frequently, which never ceases to amaze him because the scenarios are always news to him,’ Chief of Staff Steven Shearer said Tuesday afternoon that Schock ‘has not organized any effort beyond representing the people of the 18th District.’” The Crain story: http://bit.ly/uc5nnL. The Peoria story, which includes the Schock pushback: http://bit.ly/smT85x.

MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE – A KENNEDY CONSIDERS RUNNING FOR FRANK’S SEAT: “A scion of the famed Kennedy clan, Joseph P. Kennedy III, an assistant district attorney in Middlesex County, said he will consider running for US Representative Barney Frank’s congressional seat next year,” the Boston Globe reports. “Kennedy, a Democrat, told the Globe yesterday, ‘I haven’t had an opportunity to give it a whole lot of thought, but I will give it some thought in the coming days and weeks.’ Kennedy, 31, the son of former US representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, does not live in the Fourth Congressional District, but residency is not required to run for the office.” http://bo.st/t9O8tU

CODA – QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We want a virgin to do a hooker's job.” – State Sen. Lori Klein, Cain's Arizona state chairman, who told CBS that she has known the candidate for 12 years and he's “never been anything but a gentlemen - and I am not an unattractive woman.” http://bit.ly/vz6zCU

Authors:

About The Author

James Hohmann is a reporter for POLITICO Pro.

He covered the 2012 presidential campaign from start to finish, authoring the daily Morning Score tipsheet for nearly two years as he reported from 23 states over the course of the primaries and general election. Through the fall, he traveled with Mitt Romney.

Hohmann spent 2010 chronicling the Republican Party’s drive to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

He arrived from The Washington Post at the end of 2009. Previously he wrote for the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau, the Dallas Morning News and The San Jose Mercury News.

An honors graduate of Stanford University, Hohmann studied American political history. He served as editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily and wrote an award-winning thesis about the 1976 Republican primaries and the political ascendancy of Ronald Reagan.